India smashes England

India has beaten England by four wickets in the fourth one-day series match in Kochi, to take an unbeatable 4-0 lead in the best of seven series.

The visitors were bowled out in their innings for 237 in the 49th over, in what was another average team batting performance by the English.

Only two of their batsmen made what could be considered as a significant contribution, with Kevin Pietersen hitting a wonderful 77 runs from just 82 balls faced.

He was ably supported by wicketkeeper Geraint Jones who ended up as the not out batsmen on 49, who provided some important grit at the tail of the innings.

It was Pietersen who shone by taking the innings reins, after his team was in early trouble at 2-27.

A 90-run third wicket stand between Pietersen and Paul Collingwood (36) spared the English some blushes, but the fall of steady wickets throughout the innings hampered their chances of posting a big score.

For India, the wickets were shared around with two run outs also adding to a wonderful effort in the field.

In reply, the Indians reached the target with four wickets and 2.4 overs to spare.

Four of the top five batsmen made starts, including a wonderful captain's knock from Rahul Dravid (65) who led from the front.

Youvraj Singh (48) and Irfan Pathan (46) provided ample support for Dravid, and despite losing multiple wickets with the score on 152 and again at 224, the Indians never looked threatened.